I hate to say this, but maybe some of those people who have filled out that many applications should consider putting the same amount of work into starting their own businesses. That might even help a few other people not have to fill out quite so many questions. I know if I had filled out 1000 applications already with no success, I'd consider:

a) moving to a new city
b) starting my own business, possibly a 1 man business to begin with

Oh I agree, entrepreneurship is the way to go. It's the reason why I got a finance/business degree in college.

The thing to remember about small businesses is: most of them fail. BUT if you keep plugging away at entrepreneurship, try a variety of business ideas, control your costs, learn from your mistakes etc most entrepreneurs eventually end up successful, and it is the easiest avenue to wealth due to low barriers to entry.

Still makes me angry regarding employment, but yeah I agree that there are other options for the smart and determined.

Originally Posted by Paul - Thrall

The ignorance on this thread gave me cancer. At least I have insurance. Thanks, Obama!

Those fucking survays suck. Does asking me the same 3 questions sixty times over really give hiring managers a clue to who I am?

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 04:34 PM ----------

If I assaulted a co worker seven times, I'm still putting down 0. Most people bullshit through this waste of time portion of the app anyways.

Get to know the potential employee during the interview or ask them to sub a resume with the app.

You're not going to read the resume for every applicant for a cashier job at Walmart. As long as they're a fairly mentally stable warm body with a functional brain, they're good enough. That's the point of the survey, to determine if they're mentally stable and have a functional brain.

They're artificially inflated to make them longer and more frustrating. Most of them require you to register an account. Why? Do you think someone would try to steal my identity and apply under my name? Do you think I'm doing more than filling out this application and then forgetting this website every existed? Why do I need an account for something so temporary? One made me, and I shit you not, fill out FIVE security questions for my account. What. The. Fuck.

I get the point of a questionnaire, I do. But: A. they're not fucking psychologists, most of the time, they have less qualifications than I do for their own job, B. Don't repeat the same damn questions over and over, C. Why are these things 100 questions or more? I don't even think ACTUAL psychologists ask that many questions.

Strip em down, make em more user-friendly, because if you're going to REQUIRE that we fill them out online (and a lot of places do now), then you're going to have to make changes.

The "Surveys" will be picked up by a computer program to help sort the most desirable applicants to the business's criteria. The reason for them asking the same question in various ways is to ensure that you are giving the answer that you think is correct.

The "Surveys" will be picked up by a computer program to help sort the most desirable applicants to the business's criteria. The reason for them asking the same question in various ways is to ensure that you are giving the answer that you think is correct.

Probably also to weed out "unstable" people who answer a bit erratically.

Met the ghost of Stephen Foster at the Hotel Paradise
This is what I told him as I gazed into his eyes
Ships are made for sinking, whisky made for drinking
If we were made of cellophane we'd all get stinking drunk much faster...

I hate to say this, but maybe some of those people who have filled out that many applications should consider putting the same amount of work into starting their own businesses. That might even help a few other people not have to fill out quite so many questions. I know if I had filled out 1000 applications already with no success, I'd consider:

a) moving to a new city
b) starting my own business, possibly a 1 man business to begin with

While starting a business can be a decent idea, if someone has taken the time to fill out that many applications while jobless, then they probably don't have the money to start a new business. That's also considering they even live in an area that would be good for growing a new business. Starting a new bakery in a town with an already well established and well off bakery is only going to end in failure unless somehow by yourself you can put out better product, better advertising, and at least the same amount of product.

I'd personally love to start my own bar and grill instead of doing the job I am at, but I don't have the money, the location, or the reputation to begin one.

Am I the only person that feels like an hour or longer is a crazy amount of time to spend filling out an online job application? I mean realistically it takes me about five minutes to do all the personal information and job history. It is the darned surveys they always put at the end that really bog things down. They ask you the same dozen or so questions in five or six different ways just to see if you are paying attention. "Do you think stealing from the company you work for is a good idea?" Why do they even feel the need to ask such a question. As somebody that has been unemployed for quite some time now I do not see how anybody with a job could have time to go through these monstrosities. It would be nice if all the applications would agree to a unified survey that you only had to fill out like once every few months so you didn't get freaking carpal tunnel. I dunno I guess after filling out thousands (and I do literally mean THOUSANDS) of these applications I am sick of seeing them. Surely I am not the only person that feels this way?

I,m sorry if it sounds harsh but...If you're not willing to put a minimum of effort into looking for a job...Why should they hire you ? If you find "working" on an online job application too much for you...They shouldn't hire you at all...

I hate to say this, but maybe some of those people who have filled out that many applications should consider putting the same amount of work into starting their own businesses. That might even help a few other people not have to fill out quite so many questions. I know if I had filled out 1000 applications already with no success, I'd consider:

a) moving to a new city
b) starting my own business, possibly a 1 man business to begin with

I've started a few businesses. In reality, it just isn't for most people. Most people that I've known want the consistency of the regular paycheck, benefits they don't have to pay for themselves, to be able to walk out at 5pm and not think about the job again until the next day, etc. I know too many people that get paid very well and do almost nothing at work all day, like 6 figures a year and they mostly shop on the internet and every once in awhile have to check a file or return an email. That type of person doesn't want to start a business from scratch.

While starting a business can be a decent idea, if someone has taken the time to fill out that many applications while jobless, then they probably don't have the money to start a new business. That's also considering they even live in an area that would be good for growing a new business. Starting a new bakery in a town with an already well established and well off bakery is only going to end in failure unless somehow by yourself you can put out better product, better advertising, and at least the same amount of product.

I'd personally love to start my own bar and grill instead of doing the job I am at, but I don't have the money, the location, or the reputation to begin one.

There are small business you can start with very low overhead. However most of these are service based and require a particular skillset.

Look into small business grants/loans, there is a lot of grant money out there that remains untapped if you want to consider going down that road one day. Restaurants/bars have an even higher failure rate than other small businesses though so yeah you will need to establish yourself in some other way before considering that avenue.

Originally Posted by Paul - Thrall

The ignorance on this thread gave me cancer. At least I have insurance. Thanks, Obama!

While starting a business can be a decent idea, if someone has taken the time to fill out that many applications while jobless, then they probably don't have the money to start a new business. That's also considering they even live in an area that would be good for growing a new business. Starting a new bakery in a town with an already well established and well off bakery is only going to end in failure unless somehow by yourself you can put out better product, better advertising, and at least the same amount of product.

I'd personally love to start my own bar and grill instead of doing the job I am at, but I don't have the money, the location, or the reputation to begin one.

Sure, but there are types of business that can be done without much start-up capital. Computer repair, for example. Also if you can show you have a solid business plan, you can often get startup capital from a bank.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 10:23 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Danielm7

I've started a few businesses. In reality, it just isn't for most people. Most people that I've known want the consistency of the regular paycheck, benefits they don't have to pay for themselves, to be able to walk out at 5pm and not think about the job again until the next day, etc. I know too many people that get paid very well and do almost nothing at work all day, like 6 figures a year and they mostly shop on the internet and every once in awhile have to check a file or return an email. That type of person doesn't want to start a business from scratch.

Sure. I wouldn't want to try to start my own business at the moment. But if I were a person who had put in a thousand resumes and still couldn't find work, I'd be changing my tune. Even if my business ended up failing, it would still give me experience and chutzpah to put on my resume.

Met the ghost of Stephen Foster at the Hotel Paradise
This is what I told him as I gazed into his eyes
Ships are made for sinking, whisky made for drinking
If we were made of cellophane we'd all get stinking drunk much faster...

As someone who has been involved with human resources before I can tell you why exactly are they important for the employer.

Those are model surveys slightly adjusted to different fields. Even before they ever review your CV or cover letter they are used to profile you. To filter the crazies, people with profiles unfit for the position or people who aren't really serious about the position. Once you passed that survey your CV gets an honest look. If that passes then your cover letter and any aditional stuff will be taken into consideration.

Believe it or not altough you spend an hour filling out your CV and writing a cover letter (sometimes you send the same one to a 1000 places) there is a guy at the other end that needs to spend 20 minutes reading it and possibly doing some background check (like does your university really exist or such) and passing it up the chain of decisions and doing relevant paperwork. While you send out 1 he has to read sometimes hundreds or even thousands of applications for the position and needs to try to select a decent crop of candidates. It is not easy work.

So to streamline it and discard stuff that would automatically be a waste of time the surveys are needed, which in part automates the process. One of the reasons why your CV ever got reviewed and you got that job interview amongst the hundreds or maybe thousand of applicants is because the selection process spit you out as a valid candidate. If that selection process would not exist perhaps the first dozen half passable CVs got interviewed and the position would have been filled with the first half decent candidate simply because they would have no time to go trough more applications.

So while I understand you hate them, next time you bitch about them try and remember there is a guy somewhere in an office possibly getting paid less then you would, who has to read God knows how many made up bullshit, half-assed or useless CVs and cherry pick you from it.

Originally Posted by Mooneye

Sexual assault is not always rape.

*slowclap*

Originally Posted by Mooneye

Woman rapes a guy, gives birth to child and has custody of the child.
I don't see why you should take the child from the woman unless she abuses it.

I've tried a few jobs that had retarded applications. I think it was future shop that had the 1 hour survey. Eithr way, I never heard back for a cashier position, even with 5 years experience.

Another application was to a video store. They asked me about 5-6 odd questions, one of which was "What serial killer are you most like". Yeaaah. I guess should have created secret answer E. None of the above. Like seriously, I was next door to them. If I walked out of my apartment building, I could probably spit on their building..... with practice.

Even if you manage to pass the survey stage of a lot of job applications, your CV isn't always sure to get a look by a human. A lot of companies now will run your CV through the computer checking for certain words. IIRC, you basically have to have enough of them on your CV for it to get a proper look.

They're artificially inflated to make them longer and more frustrating. Most of them require you to register an account. Why? Do you think someone would try to steal my identity and apply under my name? Do you think I'm doing more than filling out this application and then forgetting this website every existed? Why do I need an account for something so temporary? One made me, and I shit you not, fill out FIVE security questions for my account. What. The. Fuck.

I get the point of a questionnaire, I do. But: A. they're not fucking psychologists, most of the time, they have less qualifications than I do for their own job, B. Don't repeat the same damn questions over and over, C. Why are these things 100 questions or more? I don't even think ACTUAL psychologists ask that many questions.

Strip em down, make em more user-friendly, because if you're going to REQUIRE that we fill them out online (and a lot of places do now), then you're going to have to make changes.

The manager of Walmart or whatever isn't the one reading your answers to the question. A computer is analyzing your answers to determine whether you're a psycho/idiot or not.

I hate to say this, but maybe some of those people who have filled out that many applications should consider putting the same amount of work into starting their own businesses. That might even help a few other people not have to fill out quite so many questions. I know if I had filled out 1000 applications already with no success, I'd consider:

a) moving to a new city
b) starting my own business, possibly a 1 man business to begin with

Yeah, I'm sure that the majority of people who aren't getting a job with thousands of applications have the relevant education and capital to start their own business. It's not like college is a debt factory.

I hate to say this, but maybe some of those people who have filled out that many applications should consider putting the same amount of work into starting their own businesses. That might even help a few other people not have to fill out quite so many questions. I know if I had filled out 1000 applications already with no success, I'd consider:

a) moving to a new city
b) starting my own business, possibly a 1 man business to begin with

While this entirely true, and I myself after all this time have put more than a bit of thought into it, the problem is as follows:

Originally Posted by Bergtau

Yeah, I'm sure that the majority of people who aren't getting a job with thousands of applications have the relevant education and capital to start their own business. It's not like college is a debt factory.

Unless you've got a damn near foolproof plan or get lucky, you're likely just to end up worse off with even larger debt than you started with. I'm living with my parents because I can't find work, even if I have a decent idea for a fairly solid business here who the hell is going to actually loan me the capital? Unless you've got some kind of special skill or it's something you're able to do out of where you live so that the necessary starting capital is practically nothing, it's not really a viable option.

Yeah, I don't fill out online applications. Never have, never will. Sure, I look for jobs online, but I always just submit a resume. It gets you noticed among the other masses who just fill out online applications.

Applications end up being the end result. The job I am in currently I go by ignoring the online application, walking in a resume personally, handing it to the owner, thanking him for his time and consideration and walking out. He said that was the number one thing that made me stick in his mind. The application and the 50 questions were done after I already had the job and the contract.

If you're filling out online applications for jobs, you're doing it wrong.

It's not the fact that they ask all these questions. It's the fact that anyone with half a brain will know what is expected of them and answer accordingly, even if you end up bullshitting over half your application. The entire job application process has become a charade. That's what pisses me off.

Yeah, I don't fill out online applications. Never have, never will. Sure, I look for jobs online, but I always just submit a resume. It gets you noticed among the other masses who just fill out online applications.

Applications end up being the end result. The job I am in currently I go by ignoring the online application, walking in a resume personally, handing it to the owner, thanking him for his time and consideration and walking out. He said that was the number one thing that made me stick in his mind. The application and the 50 questions were done after I already had the job and the contract.

If you're filling out online applications for jobs, you're doing it wrong.

At face value this is horrible advice. While I think the idea of walking a resume in to hand in person is a good idea, to totally ignore an employers preferred method of recruitment is not a good idea. Walking in a resume for a place that only does online hiring MIGHT be a good idea, i'm sure you are likely to find just as many, if not more, people who just trash your resume upon receipt.